Strong Enough
by OdeToLife
Summary: Everybody makes wrong decisions. It's not a problem, since you can always change your mind. Sometimes, however, it's too late to make the right decision. And your life won't be the only one affected by your choices. Troyella. One-shot.


**And here goes another one-shot ;)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing (if I did, I wouldn't be posting on ff, would I?)**

* * *

The Montez family members used to be very proud of their mansions. Every time someone came to visit, the person would get a free tour around the family's properties and would usually hang their mouth open seeing the main rooms.

Though rich, the family was really happy, friendly and, above all, creative. Every wall was painted differently, not one color was repeated. The living room was truly beautiful, not only because of the walls, but also because of the furniture. To say they had good taste was an understatement.

That night, however, if one entered the living room, even if it was for the first time, the person's attention wouldn't be dragged by the fabulous decoration. The first thing one would notice was the petite frame shaking on the floor.

The moonlight illuminated the girl's wet face, and it was easy to see she was crying her eyes out. Pity would overcome anyone's body at the sight. Anyone would feel bad entering the room. But not anyone could possibly feel as bad as the one person who actually opened the door and gasped at the girl's crying face, the one person who cared about her more than anyone else in the world.

Troy Bolton slammed the door shut and ran to his girlfriend, holding her as close as possible. He let her cry onto his chest for what seemed like hours, waiting for tears to stop being shed.

"Gabi, what's wrong? ...Gabi, please, tell me what happened to make you feel so hurt...Gabi..."

She shook her head slightly.

"Nothing happened, Troy."

"Gabriella, please. You were crying so hard that I wanted to cry too! And now you tell me nothing happened? Come on, you know you can tell me, right?"

"I know. And nothing happened. It's just...I'm so tired, Troy! I'm tired of trying to live up to my parents' expectations! I'm tired of giving my hardest all the time and at the end not even getting a 'well done, Gabi', 'cause everybody thinks being perfect is my obligation! I'm tired of having everyone controlling what I eat, what I read, what I see, what I study, what I play with, what I should like, even what I think! I wanna be free, Troy. It takes too much effort to live the life I'm living now, and I'm not made of stone, you know? It seems like everybody thinks I'm obviously going to succeed in everything I do and I'm obviously so much better than any other girl my age, and stuff. I just wanna be normal, you know I'm not different from anyone, right?"

"...right. I wish I knew how to help you, Gabi, you know I'd do anything for you, I wish I knew what was right, but I have no idea. But I'm here for you, Gabi."

"I know..."

"Figures, it's not like I ever let you forget." He smiled seeing the weak grin on her lips. "See? That's the smile I wanted to get."

She giggled and closed her eyes, leaning against his chest once again, thinking.

* * *

"No!"

"Yes. Please, Troy, you of all people matter to me. You of all people need to understand."

"You want me to understand!? Gabriella, do you realize what you're telling me? You can't expect me to say 'ok' and let you go like this, Gabi, you can't!"

"But you don't know what it's like to live under pressure! People do worse than this, believe me, some even kill themselves! You should be glad I'm not committing suicide."

"Oh yeah, that's a relief, I mean, it'd be understandable if you wanted to kill yourself. Not, Gabi. I can't let you go, I can't lose you!"

"You won't...you know I love you, right? We'll be together again...sooner or later."

"It's not safe. I won't let you put yourself in danger."

"Troy. I want you to support me, but I'll go whether you want me to or not. But I don't wanna live with myself knowing I disappointed you, knowing I hurt you. I want you to say that everything's gonna be alright. Please."

She looked up into his eyes and her mocha brown locked with his ocean blue in a powerful gaze. She knew then he would give in.

"I'm going with you."

"What? No! You have your life, Troy! Your future is right around the corner, there are so many things in store for you! You can't go with me. I'll come back to see you, I promise."

"Gabi, you don't think I'll be able to make it through without you, do you?"

"I don't think so. I know so. You'll have our memories, Troy. And it's not like you'll never see me again. You'll be with me really soon, you'll see."

"Gabi..."

"Please...Troy, don't. Please. I need to. Alone."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

The sky started to get darker and she became afraid. Rain fell down merciless and the wet sidewalks seemed to shine 'cause of the light coming from the lamp at the end of the street. People under umbrellas walked by very quickly, their faces looking tired. The street was full of cars and drivers smoothly horned every now and then.

She wanted to sit down at a bench, 'cause she didn't really feel the rain, she didn't care about the cold. Her only feeling was fear, 'cause she hadn't decided where to go yet. The bench would be only a place to rest for a few minutes. But people looked at her weirdly, so she just kept on walking.

She was tired. She though constantly, 'What on Earth is gonna happen now?'.

After spending sixteen years watching her parents dream high about her future and trying not to disappoint them, she ran away from home. The last thing she said to her father was:

"Forgive me, but I'm not strong enough to keep on living here."

Now, though, a scary though played around in her mind. What if she wasn't strong enough to live alone? What if she wasn't strong enough to make her own decisions, to choose her own ways?

The rain ruined her clothes but, for the first time in her life, she didn't care. It also wasn't important that she didn't have any other clothes, nor anything essential to her daily life, actually.

As time passed by, streets got empty and the dawn fell upon Albuquerque. The air was still, and a deep silence surrounded her. The voices she heard when she was leaving filled her brain:

"Gabriella, be sane for a moment, honey."

"Your decision is absolutely unacceptable, Gabriella."

"Gabi, please, are you really leaving me?"

"Gabriella Montez, stop running right now! What do you think you're doing?"

Back then, she thought the things she was told were worthless. Now, though, it seemed like those voices were attempting to convince her once again, and this time it was working. All of a sudden, she realized. It was as if her point of view had changed completely in a matter of seconds. Seeing a group of people living in the street, seeing how unhappy they were, Gabriella realized she was leaving behind everything those people laying on the floor wished they had.

Quickly making up her mind, she turned around on her heels and began to run towards her house, running past the same things and places she had walked past some minutes ago as she came back.

'Everything's gonna be OK', she thought. How wrong was she.

Gabriella barely had time to scream when she saw the car coming fast towards her body. One second before the collision, she thought, 'What on Earth is gonna happen now?' for the fiftieth time that night. It was the last thought ever to cross her mind.

* * *

It was sunset time, the day after all newspapers published the article about Gabriella Montez' body being found two streets away from her house.

Sooner that same day, the cemetery was filled with crying people who claimed to miss Gabriella like crazy. They had no idea what it was like to miss her like crazy for real.

Hours after the funeral, everybody had gone home to take a shower. Everybody but one person.

Troy had had a hard time trying to understand how difficult it was for Gabriella to make her decision, but now he could see it clearly, 'cause it was his turn. His turn to analyze the pros and the cons.

He had a promising future in basketball, the sport he loved, but Gabriella was gone.

He had comprehensive parents, which most of his friends didn't. His parents were great, his mother was a housewife and his father, a policeman, but Gabriella was gone.

He had great friends, but Gabriella was gone.

He had money to have a great life, but Gabriella was gone.

To most people it would seem crazy, but to Troy it was simply obvious. He knew what he wanted to do. There was no point in living without Gabriella. Life didn't have a purpose anymore, 'cause Gabriella was gone.

She was gone. And it only took one minute and his father's gun for him to be gone too.

He wasn't strong enough to live without her.

* * *

**Random? Review honestly please, I totally go for constructive criticism. Thanks a lot for reading!**

**xoxo**

**Lee_**


End file.
